Experiences

There are two "Camps" when it comes to giving babies experiences.  People are either in the camp of:
"I can't believe your taking that baby out of the house!"
or the camp of:
"It is so great to see you taking your baby out and about!"

I am of coarse of the  second!

Being a teacher, i know that children need many experience to become well rounded children and people.  Why not start early?

Some may think it is strange that I compare my infant to dogs, but I am going to anyways.
I have heard many dog trainers (the ones I watch on Animal Planet) say that it is so important to expose your puppies to at least 12 different textures before they are 6 months old.  Their feet need to feel at least 12 distinctly different things to become "normal" adult dogs.  I did this with my dog Kaya when she was a puppy, I made sure I took her to many places and let her feel lots of different textures.  In my opinion, she is well rounded, "normal" adult dog.

Why not apply a similar idea with infants and young children, the more we expose them to the better and more well rounded they will be, not to mention they will probably be healthier.  They can't learn without having many experiences.

A good friend of mine who also happens to be one of the best teachers I know, has been studying the development of young children for years.  She take classes every year and has recently been working on her masters.  She was telling me today that their is research about young children that says that 80% of kids have only ever walked on flat surfaces...WHAT!!?  This is turn is causing issues with these children's gross motor skills.  They are unable to hold their balance well, especially when they have to walk on uneven surfaces, which then causes accidents and injuries later in life.

Why wouldn't you want to expose your children to different terrain, let them have their trips and falls at a young age, when they are closer to the ground and less likely to be seriously injured by a fall?

I recently met a 10 month old  who was visiting from California. The family was getting the grand tour of Aspen.  While playing at a local preschool, they took his shoes off and let him crawl in the grass, which he had never done before...he had never in his 10 months of life felt grass?  How is this possible?  Had they been from Colorado and it had been winter for the last 9 months of his life this may have been understandable...but they are from California, no snow, nice weather all winter.  I was dumb founded!

So far in Edy's 2 months of life she has had many experiences and been exposed to so many things!  She's been to the grocery store multiple times, walmart, target, a few restaurants.  She has felt different temperatures, warm, cold and even extremely hot when we drove through Vegas.  She has been to the beach, touched the sand, dipped her tiny toes in icy cold Pacific Ocean and been swimming at the Aspen Rec. Center.  

Dipping her toes in the icy water at Mission Beach!

Toes in the warm sand, soft sand!

Felt the rain on her face and the sun on her toes.

First Rainbow!

She met animals at the Zoo!
She has been held, by at least 20 people!
4 loving dogs have licked her, her toes, fingers, head, lips, nose.
Been kissed, hugged, snuggled.
Heard a multitude of different music.
Listened to different languages.
Smelled flowers, baking, animals, soap, sewer, smoke, spice, rain.

All this and more in just over 2 months.  I hope that all of these many experiences will help her be more well rounded!  Or maybe it will just make it so she isn't afraid of things when she gets older.  I though love taking her everywhere with me!  It has been a new experience for me too!  We are both learning so much!